Pope Gregory’s Letter-Bearers: A Study of the Men and Women who Carried Letters for Pope Gregory the Great by John R. C. Martyn (review)

John Martyn’s notable contribution to Gregorian studies is best represented by his translation of the first complete version of Pope Gregory the Great’s register of letters, the Registrum epistularum, published in 2004. Here, in this small volume, Martyn switches his attention to one of the basic support mechanisms of letter-writing—that of delivery—through an examination of Gregory’s letter-bearers.

The notion of examining the networks that underpinned Gregory the Great’s pontificate is an attractive one, potentially allowing a deeper understanding of the issues that dominated the interactions between the shepherd and his flock in the context of late sixth- and early seventh-century Europe. Martyn arranges his analysis on identifiable letter-bearers by chronology (following the systemisation used in the Registrum epistularum) and gender, with a further section on petitions and reports from individuals not classed officially as letter-bearers.

The effect, initially, is to raise interest in what appears to be an unusual use of women in the role of letter-bearer. Unfortunately, it soon gives way to the descriptive rather than the insightful, as the chronological systemisation works against the development of potential networks based on individuals, evolving issues, and geography. Such contexts and networks are often only briefly touched upon in the endnotes. A summary presented in the last chapter breaking down the letter-bearers by occupation gives some extra insight, but does little to coalesce and energise the many narratives. The result is a straight-forward collation of the activities of the men and women who carried letters for Gregory the Great, drawn from the Registrum epistularum alone.

The idea of examining Gregory’s pontificate through his epistolary networks is a good one. The present volume, however, collates rather than draws together the potential narratives (and the subsequent insights that might be gained from them), leaving the making of connections between these narratives to the interested reader. In its current form, then, this work is best suited to those with a particular interest in Gregory. An expanded work on the theme of Gregory and his epistolary networks would make a significant contribution to Gregorian studies.